Reflector holder



April 6 1926.

J. C. HERRON REFLECTOR HOLDER Filed Oct. 2, 19,24-

human 1 a I I m; ll W m ,dz cf/erra/y Patented Apr. 6, 1926.

UNITED STATES v v 1,519,935 PATENI OF I E.

JAMES C. HERRON', OF'CHICA'GO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'ro REFLECTOR &ILLUMIN T- ING CO., or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

REFLECTOR HOLDER.

Application filed October 2, 1924. Serial No. 741,133.

To all'whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES C. HnnRoN, a

.citizeirof the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in a Reflector Holder; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled. in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to holders of the general class employed inconnection with lamp sockets in supporting reflectors, shades orinclosing globes.

In employing such holders in certain classes of work, as for example inconnection with show window lighting, several serious difficulties havebeen encounteredwithj the holders 110W in common use. One is due to theconsiderable variation in the diameter of the socket shells to which theholder is to be attached. Since even the make or general type of socketis often unknown to the reflector manufacturer or dealer, it isdifficult for'him to judge the size of clamp which,

will be needed on the holders accompanying the reflectors, therebyleadlng to delays 1n corresponding Wltll customers or' exchangingholders, or else compelling the users to bend the supplied holders outof their proper shape in endeavoring to make them fit the sockets onwhich they are to be used.

While this'objection has been overcome to a certain extent by theadjustable holders heretofore provided, these in turn have con monlybeen objectionable in requiring the clamped portions of the holders tobe bent to varying shapes whenadjusting them to sock ets of differentdiameters. frequently interferes with the firm clamping of the socketshell, causes the reflector to be moved out of its proper position withrespect to the axis of the socket, and also obliges the maker of theholders to employ undesirably thin metal for the clamp of his holders. lAnother serious objectionto the common types of holders resides in theirbeing suit-. able only for affording a given spacing-between the socketand the reflector-gripplng portion of the holder, thereby confining theproper application of each holder to a single size of lamp. In practice,the-same sockets and reflect-orsare frequently employed with Such abending any one of a number of sizes of lamps having different effectivelengths (or lengths from their base ends totheir filament" centers),thereby requiring a corresponding change in the eifectivelength ofthelholder according to the wattage of lamp which is to be used.lVhileadjustable holders have been constructed to meet this objection,these in turn have introduced undesirable complications, and have beenlacking in rigidity and in their ability to retain their proper.adjusted position in spite ofj'arring. ,They also frequently have beenobjectionable through permitting direct rays of light from the lamp toissue through the holder when the latter was. in certain positions ofadjustment. 7 i i My present invention aims to overcome all of'thes'e*-objections' by providing a simple, firm and easily adjustedholder which can readily be employed interchangeably with widely varyingsizesof socket shells'and with different sizes of lamps. Moreparticularly, ,my invention provides a holder not 'to "be bent out oftheir shape during their attaching, in which this-clamp grips the socketshell along a large number of lines spaced circumferentially of theshell,

and in which the screw-connected Wings of the clamp remain substantiallyparallel throughout the range of adjustment of the holder. V It alsoprovides a holder in which the 3djustment'for variations in the size ofthe lamp is effected bya bodily movement of the socket-gripping clampwith respect to the ieflectonsuppo'rting part of the holder, in whichthis'clamp has a tripod formation I affording the desired rigidity andhas each of its lcgsheld against tilting although connectedto the mainholder member only by single screw, and In which the clamp of the holderis held firmly in each adjusted position in spite of a possibleloosening of 'the attaching screws through a jarring of the holder.Furthermore, myinvention provides an adjustable holder of this class inwhich the attaching legs of the holding clamp are'arranged so as toprevent the direct projection of light through the slots in which theattaching screws are movable during theadjusting of the holder.

Still further and also more detailed objects will appear from thefollowing specification and from the accompanying drawings, in whichFig. 1 is a perspective view of a holder embodying my invention,assembled for use ping clamp of the holder, showing this as contractedfor use with a socket shell of relatively small diameter.

.Fig. 4 is a similar view, showing the holder as expanded in diameterfor clamping it to a considerably larger socket shell.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged elevation of one of the screws which attach theclamp portions to the holder member.

Referring to the illustrated embodiment,

. this includes a tubular main holder member 1 which desirably tapersupwardly and which is provided at its lower end withthe customary means,such as screws 2, for engaging the neck of the reflector, shade or globe12 which is to be supported bymy device. To connect this holdermember'to the shell of the supporting socket, I provide asocket-gripping member -which desirably consists of three counterpartportions connected by suitable screws. In the illustrated form, each ofthese portions comprises a shank 3 which extends into the bore of theholder member 1 and which carries at its upper end a cross-head. Thiscross-head preferably is composed of a plurality of flat parts,

such as the parts 4, 5 and 6, disposed at oblique angles to each otherand adapted to bear tangentially against the shell 7 or 8 of thesupporting socket. Each of the crossheads also desirably includes a pairof end portions 9 and 10 bent so as to be disposed approximatelyradially of the supporting socket, thereby permitting a ready connectionof the end wings 9 and 10 on adjacent cross-heads by screws 11. here theneck of the. supported reflector 12 is considerably larger in diameterthan the socket shell, I may also form a bend in the upper end of eachshank 3 by providing a horizontal part- 16-between the upright mainportion 3 of the shank and the cross-head, as shown in the drawings.

Each of the shanks 3 of the socket-gripping member is sec-uredto theholder member by a screw 13 extending through the lateral wall of theholder member and threaded into the said shank. To allow for anadjustment in the effective length of my device, I desirably provide theholder member with longitudinalslots 14, each of which slots has itsmajor portion of a width slightly greater than the diameter of the shank15 of one of the last named screws. Then I provide each such slot withspaced enlargements 17 each of which is adapted to house an enlargedshank portion 18 formed onthescrew adjacent to the head thereof. Thusarranged, it will be obvious that when each of these screws istightened, the seating of the enlarged screw portion 18 in thecorresponding enlargement of the slot through which the screw extendswill prevent the screw from sliding along theslot. However, by backingout the screw until this enlarged portion 18 clears the outer surface ofthe holder, the screw will be free to move in the slot, so that thesocket-gripping member can be moved longitiulinally of the holder memberuntil the screw is in alinement with another enlargement of the slot. 3ysuitably spacing these enlargements to correspond to the (liiference inthe effective length of different wattages of lamps, I can readily adaptmy holder for interchangeable use with lamps of such differences,thereby assuring the reflector manufacturer of an eflicient use of hisreflectors.

By forming the cross-heads of the socketgripping member of flat portionsdisposed in relatively oblique planes to one another, I secure a firmengagement of each of these cross-heads with the gripped socket along anumberof vertical lines without requiring these gripping portions to bemade of such a thin metal as to permit bending of the same.Consequently, I can employ relatively heavy metal for these parts andparticularly so since the bends at the connections of the horizontalportions 16 of each socketgripping member to the shank and crosshead ofthat member permit the stems of this member 'to bend somewhat whenadjusting my device to sockets of different diameters. This enables meto employ my device effectively with sockets having shells of greatlyvarying diameters, as shown for example in Figs. 3 and 4.

Since the socket-gripping member in the illustrated form has a tripodleg formation,

this in itself would tend to deter a rocking of the member about thescrews which connect it to the holder member. However, I desirablyprovide the holder member with auxiliaryformations engaging the shanks 3of the socket gripping member atpoints spaced from the screws 13, so asto positively prevent any such rocking. For this purpose, I am hereshowing the holder member as provided at its upper end with an inwardlydirected flange 17 having recesses 18 through which the shanks 3 Theserecesses correspond closely in width 'to the shank, so that the lateralrecess walls -w1ll engage the edges of the corresponding shanks toprevent each shank from rocking extend.

about the screw which secures it to the holder member 1.

through'that slot. To ventilate the holder member of the device, I formlateral open ings in the same and preferably do this by providinginwardly bent louvres 19 which extend upwardly within the holder asshown in Fig. 2, thereby also preventing light from being projectedthrough these ventilating openings.

However, while I have illustrated and described my invention inanembodiment including varioushighly desirable features of constructionand arrangement,'I do not wish to be limited to these, as numerouschanges might obviously be made without departing either from the spiritof my invention or from the appended claims. Neither do I wish to belimited to the employment of all of the novel features of my inventionin conjunction with one another.

I claim as my invention 1. In a holder for supporting a reflector or thelike from a socket, a tubular holder member having means at its lowerend for engaging the reflector, a socket gripping member having aplurality of shanks extending into the holder member, and screws respectively securing the said shanks to the holder member; the holdermember having longitudinal slots through which the respective screwsextend, each slot being provided with spaced enlargements and each screwhaving an enlarged shank portion sooketed in one of the enlargements ofthe slot adjacent thereto when the screw is tightened.

which each shank of the socket gripping member extends downwardly beyondits engagement with the adjacent screw so as to close the slot throughwhich the screw extends.

3. A reflector holder as per claim 1, in which each screw has the shankportion thereof inward of its enlarged shank portion of a diametersmaller than the portion of the adjacent slot between the enlargementsof the slot; thereby permitting the screw to be slid from one to theother of the slot enlargements after retracting the screw to dispose itsenlarged portion outside the holder, without detaching the screwfrom'the holder shank through which it is threaded.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, September JAMES c. HERRON.

2. A reflector holder as per claim 1, in A

